The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-04-09

in any such pursuit." he demonstrated,
gravely.
"Well, then, desert science temporarily;
but only do make some money" she coaxed.
He stood long bordering, and tremulous
SILVER passed through his frame,
''How long will you wait for me?" he
| asked, with a stern resolution in his face.
80, l could wait forever" she answered,
| tenderly; "but let us say year." she went
on, as the worldly reflections began to pre-
dominate
"Well then, year"
''But tell me-" she urged, as he ap-
preached the door, ''what do you mean to
| try?"
San experiment in profitable transgres-
| sioan
| The renowned millionaire, Leander Hank
| ness, sat in his Office in San Francisco, writ
| ing dispatches to his brokers in New York
and Chicago, when note was handed to
him by messenger.
''Dear SIR he read, IT approach you with
some hesitation knowing perfectly the objection
| which you will naturally have to entertaining
| the proposition l am about to make to you.
l have no guarantee to offer you that approach
you in good faith, except the fact that l can in
| no way be benefited by the experiment which
propose to make, unless it is absolutely what it
| pretends to be. have made great discovery,
which will divulge to you on certain conditions
| II you will grant me an interview OF not less
than half an hour. Yours respectfully,
'HEINRICH WACHrMEIsTER."
"Tell him to get out" said Mr.. Hardness
to the messenger, as he flung the letter into
| the waste-paper basket. He scrubbed on
for few minutes in silence, then leaned
over to consult the type upon which the
''ticker' behind him was printing the market
quotations Suddenly his face frightened
"By jingor' he exclaimed; Union Pacific
at Sc. That's two hundred thousand in my
pocketm
His humor was much improved by this
piece of good luck, and as he strobe through
the outer offices he felt the agreeable ex-
hilaration of a man at peace with the world
When he was accosted at the door by a
round-shouldered, youngish-looking man,
with blonde beard and spectacles, he did
not repeat his invitation to ''get out"
"Are you the fellow that wrote the
letterF be asked.
with your permission am,'' the young
man replied, with marked German accent.
81 think you would find it to your own ad-
vantage not to refuse me the interview"
"All right; come i'm
He turned around briskly and passed
through the ground-glass door to the inner
Office, leaving the German to follow. Mr..
Hardness was, like most of the bonanza
men of the Pacific coast, of a sanguine and
adventurous temper, and but scantily
equipped with education He was ready
for any thing in which there was money,
and no proposition in which money was in
volved was too daring for his consideration.
He was young and already twenty times
millionaire. To his visitor he seemed the
very incarnation OF the hearty, generous,
slam-bang recklessness Of the Pacific coast.
1t would have surprised him, no doubt, if
he had suspected that this specialized, un-
pretentious looking foreigner had made
complete inventory of his characteristics
from merely seeing him in the street and
from hearing the rumor of his daring
maneuvers on the stock exchange.
"Well," Hardness remarked, fire away.
I've got just fifteen minutes"
''Half an hour" said the German, firmly.
"Well, fire away, man. Time at this hour
of the day is worth a thousand dollars a
minute"
CAN right. Then ] will be brief. My
name is Heinrich Wachtmeister. | was
two years ago tutor in chemistry at the uni
versity of Utrecht. In that capacity was
led to make certain experiments which re-
suited in my discovering what thousands
have sought for in vain-the secret of
making gold. You open your eyes, no
doubt, in wonder. So did l. The gold was
found in my possession, together with a
number of metallic plates and instruments,
which the stupid officials concluded were
intended for counterfeiting. They would
not believe my story, of course, that
+ba 7
accordingly tried and sentenced to two
years. Imprisonment. 1 have just now
served out my sentence"
''You are a jail-bird, then. It's pity
you didn't stay longer"
"Wait moment and you will see."
DR.. Wachtmeister here entered upon
detailed explanation of his chemical expert
ments, declaring that gold had never been
proved to be an element, and that, if it was
compound, there was no reason why it
should not be made. Science had solved
many riddles in modern times which to the
past were insoluble. He begged Mr.. Hank
ness to grant him the privilege of proving
to him and five of his friends, whom Mr.
Hardness should himself appoint, that his
statements were true. He asked for no
salary or emoluments, but only desired to
associate Mr.. Hardness renowned name
with his own in an enterprise which,
| if he carried it on alone, would ex-
pose him to fresh difficulties with the
law. There was such ring of sincerity
and earnestness in his speech that the mill
ionaire was more than half persuaded. He
| declared that he would let him know in a
week whether he could grant his request;
and instantly cabled to Utrecht to ascertain
whether the story relating to the imprison-
ment and trial for counterfeiting were true
He received the next day cablegram cor
roborating the story in all particulars. A
| second appointment was accordingly made,
and the test, in the presence of witnesses,
agreed upon. Wachtmeister begged as q
| favor that some of these might be scientific
experts, whose judgment had weight. This,
too, was readily conceded.
The momentous day at last arrived. In
| Hardness Office half dozen of the million
ares dependents were gathered, all pledged
to absolute secrecy, on the penalty of losing
their patrons favor. Wachtmeister ar
rived at the appointed hour, carrying a
starch-box under his arm and followed by a
boy who carried small blast furnace,
about the size of plumbers melting pot.
He was introduced to each member of the
company, among whom there was one who
/